See but even what you are saying here doesn't make sense : n95 masks DO work to prevent you from inhaling the virus. That's what every medical professional wore around covid patients and they were quite effective. So the confusion continues.
One of the ways I read a certain now-infamous communication from a surgeon general was (a) we need the limited supply of n95s for medical staff (b) we think there are better measures the public can take to protect themselves and (c) we're not confident the public can wear them correctly.
(a) made sense, though there's always the temptation to think "maybe I too should have a few."
(b) can't get the virus if you're keeping away from people, or in a strict bubble. Same logic as abstinence/monogamy and STDs. Though the policy proved to be even less popular than extended runs of abstinence and monogamy, hence the inevitable interest in prophylactics.
(c) What? I was kindof insulted, personally. And thought that represented an insulting view of the public.
BUT after learning about fit testing, trying it on my own, and struggling to keep a consistent fit that passed a test.... yeah. I had to admit I was not a natural at wearing an n95. And as for the public, all of us have seen people wear masks sloppily, or pull them down to sneeze, or any number of other behaviors that entirely defeat the purpose. Who has confidence that most people would wear an n95 in a way that passes a fit test?
Of course, badly-fit n95s probably provide better marginal protection than well-fit cloth masks, so maybe they should be an acceptable public intervention when available, but I doubt they'd protect the public as well as they do medical staff that's learn to fit them.
Which makes the infamous announcement arguably correct, although it remains a communication failure. But then again, the more complex you make a communication, the more poorly it scales, and "masks work if you wear them correctly and here's how you determine this" might already be ineffective.
Then, it was "maybe if we all cover our mouths [with literally whatever] and don't cough all over everything in every store every day, there will be an overall reduction in spread of germs". [Blue: Masks Save Us From COVID! Red: They just said Masks Don't Work! Blue: Yes they do! Science changes! (The Science had not changed) Red: Well, it's not protecting you, the wearer. Blue: Masks protect us all! Red: No they don't! Blue: Science Denier!, etc, etc.]
Another source of Works vs. Doesn't Work - anecdotes (and perhaps more) from subway passengers, allergy patients, etc. tend to indicate they feel better when wearing a surgical mask, which I don't find astonishing. I saw many comments asserting the effectiveness of surgical masks against inhalation (of a virus) based on these "idk I think my allergies were kinda better this year" observations.
On the other hand, no foreman would allow their workers to tear down drywall or fiberglass or whatever (read: dust) with a simple cloth or surgical mask - OSHA mostly requires N95's (+/- the exhale vent). These construction-type N95s are great to protect the wearer, but are obviously less effective (but better than nothing) against protecting passers-by from the wearer.
The scenario for which "Masks Work" is basically a hands-free covering-your-mouth-when-you-cough, but without that last half of the sentence, it's easy to see how many of the trades workers called bullshit - "I can't hang drywall or sand my boat without an N95, but I have to wear this shitty mask when I walk from my house to my mailbox?"
"Masks Work! Learn the Science™!", etc, etc.
The sad thing is that this is like a 15-minute conversation - tops - as part of hospital and jobsite orientation. Tons of new hires with only a HS Diploma/GED go through this talk every week with relatively little confusion. The Science/use cases haven't significantly evolved beyond the old PPE powerpoints, which I assume were deemed "too technical" by some PR person, leading to the kind of Science that fits on a bumper sticker.
It reminds me of a high school algebra teacher cheering on this girl that was struggling with quadratic equations or something; she was up at the chalkboard and suddenly had an epiphany, saying something like "oh! I get it! now I just plug in X and divide!", to which he jokingly responded "We plug in toasters, not variables", and it was like her eyes glazed over and her brain imploded. "Toasters?! Where did the toasters come from!?" There was just no coming back from that brief moment of confusion, at least that day, for that problem.